Enjoy Bogart, Hepburn in ‘African Queen’ revival

Above: Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart star in the 1951 film "The African Queen." (Photo/TCM)

Humphrey Bogart had been making movies for more than two decades before he won an Oscar.

His first film was a 1928 short titled “The Dancing Town.” And the character he portrayed didn’t even have name. He was billed merely as “Man in Doorway at Dance.”

His first Oscar nomination was for the role he is best known for, as Rick Blaine in 1942’s “Casablanca.” He lost out to the now largely forgotten Paul Lukas (“Watch on the Rhine”).

But then, a decade later, he got a second chance. Starring aside Katharine Hepburn in 1951’s “The African Queen,” Bogart took home the Best Actor Oscar over the likes of Fredric March (“Death of a Salesman”), Montgomery Clift (“A Place in the Sun”) and Marlon Brando (“A Streetcar Named Desire”).

Bogart would go on to be nominated a third time, for 1954’s “The Caine Mutiny,” but this time Brando would snare the gold for “On the Waterfront.”

In any event, while “The African Queen” has long been available for home viewing, the film – directed by John Huston and co-written by Huston and James Agee from C.S. Forester’s novel – has been far less available for theatrical release.

All that changes beginning Sunday when “The African Queen” will play locally at two Regal Cinemas theaters, Northtown Mall and Coeur d’Alene’s Riverstone Stadium.

The film will play at 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday, then at 7 p.m. only the following Wednesday.

“The African Queen” was nominated for four Oscars in all, including Hepburn as Best Actress and Huston for Best Director.

But it was Bogart’s time. And a fitting tribute to his long career.